Asking Questions That Farmers Need Answered: Meet the 2026 American Star in Agriscience Finalists
2026 American Star in Agriscience Finalists
The American Star in Agriscience award recognizes the top American FFA Degree recipient whose supervised agricultural experience centers on research in agriculture. These 4 finalists have applied scientific methods to real problems facing producers and the industry, and their findings point to practical improvements in how agriculture works. These videos tell the story of each finalist’s research. The winner will be named on stage at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
3:44Sarah Beck Star Agriscience Finalist
4:21Lauren Roling Star Agriscience Finalist
3:56Tessa Tauke Star Agriscience Finalist
3:31Jose Villanos Star Agriscience Finalist
The Finalists
- Sarah Beck, Corsicana FFA, Texas
- Lauren Roling, McCook Central FFA, South Dakota
- Tessa Tauke, Beckman Catholic FFA, Iowa
- Jose Villanos, LaRue County FFA, Kentucky
What They Have Built
This year’s Agriscience finalists started their research young and built it one question at a time. Sarah Beck entered her first agriscience fair in third grade, and Lauren Roling started as a seventh grader. Between them, the four have completed more than 20 research projects, and many began with a problem they saw close to home: soft meat on a show bird, a drought-stricken field, a grandfather’s hearing loss, or a corroded trailer plug.
Their work spans plant, animal, and food systems. Beck tested poultry feed additives, soil amendments for drought, and compostable packaging to reduce food waste. Roling studied grain bin safety, then partnered with Nationwide and the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety to bring a live grain bin rescue simulation to her hometown for 120 attendees. Tauke tested treatments for bovine ringworm and has since worked at the Iowa State University dairy farm and in a USDA lab isolating previously unknown bacteria. Villanos sequenced microbial DNA from drought-stressed plants and is now mapping the genetics of Johnsongrass populations across Kentucky to understand how the weed resists herbicides.
They credit parents who listened to countless practice presentations and advisors and teachers who coached them through competitions, papers, and experiments that did not go as planned. Their research is now pointing them toward careers: Beck toward agricultural law, Roling toward audiology for rural communities, Tauke toward mixed animal veterinary practice, and Villanos toward a doctorate and a research lab of his own.
One of the four will be named American Star in Agriscience at the 99th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis.
